1. (a) Incarcerated person employment is “at will” and as such is at the discretion of the employer. The Joint Venture Employer may lawfully terminate incarcerated employees at any time with or without cause but not for unlawful reasons. The department may remove incarcerated employees from participation in the Joint Venture Program at any time with or without cause.
2. (b) As a condition of employment, all incarcerated employees agree to participate in random urine testing.
3. (c) Earned wages paid by the Joint Venture Employer will be distributed to incarcerated persons by the department once a month, regardless of the frequency the employer issues payroll.

4. (d) incarcerated person participation in the Joint Venture Program shall be voluntary as evidenced by their written consent on the department's form CDCR 1872, (Rev. 07/24) Incarcerated Person Participation Agreement -- Joint Venture Program (JVP), which is hereby incorporated by reference. The Joint Venture Employer shall provide to all incarcerated persons hired written information on the conditions of their participation in the Joint Venture Program. Such information shall include, but not be limited to:

   1. (1) Hours of work and the requirements that comparable wages be paid.
   2. (2) Job description.
   3. (3) Right to file complaints regarding claimed violations of their rights under PC section 2717.8, relevant provisions of the Labor Code, and applicable Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders.
   4. (4) Incarcerated persons shall not be subject to retaliation, as specified in Title 15, CCR, Section 3481(d), by the department for their use of the administrative remedies process, to address Joint Venture Employer-related matters. Neither the Joint Venture Employer nor the department shall retaliate against incarcerated persons for exercising rights guaranteed under the State Labor Code or elsewhere in law to address Joint Venture Employer-related matters.
5. (e) The Joint Venture Employer shall post at the worksite and provide to each incarcerated employee a notice of applicable employment laws and relevant Labor Code provisions.
6. (f) The total daily hours worked by incarcerated employees in the same job classification as non-incarcerated employees of the same Joint Venture Employer who are on strike or subject to lockout shall not exceed, for the duration of the strike, the average daily hours worked for the preceding six months, or if the Joint Venture Program has been in operation for less than six months, for the period of the operations. If the secretary determines upon receipt of written notification by the union representing the non-incarcerated employees on strike or subject to lockout that such a condition exists, the limitation on incarcerated employee work hours shall be implemented within 48 hours.

7. (g) A separate incarcerated person waiting list shall, if necessary, be maintained for each Joint Venture Program operation.

   1. (1) An incarcerated person's inclusion on any waiting list for a Joint Venture Program operation shall not affect their status on any other waiting lists maintained by the facility until such time as the incarcerated person is employed by the Joint Venture Employer.
   2. (2) If the incarcerated person refuses to work, quits, or is removed from the Joint Venture Program, they shall be immediately returned to their housing unit, temporarily unassigned and referred to a classification committee for placement either on a facility waiting list or, if they refuse to work, in a non-credit earning group pursuant to Title 15, CCR Section 3375.

8. (h) Wages earned by each incarcerated person participating in a Joint Venture Program operation shall be subject to the following deductions, which shall not exceed 80 percent of the incarcerated person's gross wages:

   1. (1) Federal, state and local taxes.
   2. (2) Twenty percent of the incarcerated person's net wages after taxes shall be for any lawful restitution fine or contributions to any fund established by law compensate the victims of crime.
   3. (3) Twenty percent of the incarcerated person's net wages after taxes shall be for costs of room and board which shall be remitted to the department.
   4. (4) Twenty percent of the incarcerated person's net wages after taxes for allocations for support of family pursuant to state statute, court order, or agreement of the incarcerated person. If the incarcerated person chooses not to send money to a family member, and there is no court-ordered withholding, these funds will be deposited in mandatory savings.

9. (i) In addition to (h) of 3476, twenty percent of the incarcerated person's net wages after taxes shall be retained for the incarcerated person in mandatory savings under the control of the department.

   1. (1) Funds retained for an incarcerated person's mandatory savings shall be deposited in an interest bearing account.
   2. (2) Incarcerated employees who terminate from Joint Venture Program with a savings account balance of $500 or less may voluntarily elect to close their account and have the balance forwarded to their institutional trust account in order to avoid account fees.
   3. (3) Each incarcerated person's savings, plus the interest accrued by their savings, shall be provided to the incarcerated person upon their release. Incarcerated employee savings accounts are intended solely for the deposit of wages earned from employment with the JVE. Institution heads may authorize an earlier withdrawal of up to 50% of an incarcerated person's savings in cases where the incarcerated person is sentenced to 15 years or more and the incarcerated person has accrued $6500 or more from Joint Venture wages in their account.

Note: Authority cited: Sections 2717.3 and 5058, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 2717.8 and 5054, Penal Code.

History

1. Renumbering and amendment of former section 3477 opening paragraph to new section 3476, amendment of section heading and Note filed 10-18-93 as an emergency; operative 10-18-93 (Register 93, No. 43). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 2-15-94 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

2. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-18-93 order transmitted to OAL 2-15-94 and filed 3-16-94 (Register 94, No. 11).

3. Amendment of subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) filed 11-22-96 as an emergency; operative 11-22-96 (Register 96, No. 47). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 5-1-97 pursuant to Penal Code section 5058(e) or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

4. Certificate of Compliance as to 11-22-96 order, including amendment of subsection (b), transmitted to OAL 3-20-97 and filed 5-1-97 (Register 97, No. 18).

5. Amendment of section heading and subsections (a)(1)-(b)(1) filed 11-13-98 as an emergency; operative 11-13-98 (Register 98, No. 46). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 3-15-99 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

6. Certificate of Compliance as to 11-13-98 order transmitted to OAL 2-10-99 and filed 3-8-99 (Register 99, No. 11).

7. Renumbering of section 3476 to new section 3466 and renumbering of former section 3485 to section 3476, including amendment of subsections (d), (d)(4) and (i), filed 3-25-2020 as an emergency; operative 6-1-2020 (Register 2020, No. 13). Pursuant to Penal Code section 5058.3, a Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 11-9-2020 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

8. Emergency filed 3-25-2020 and operative 6-1-2020 extended 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-40-20 and an additional 60 days pursuant to Executive Order N-66-20 (Register 2020, No. 42). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 3-9-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

9. Renumbering of section 3476 to new section 3466 and renumbering of former section 3485 to section 3476, including amendment of subsections (d), (d)(4) and (i), refiled 2-25-2021 as an emergency, with additional amendments to subsection (d); operative 3-10-2021 (Register 2021, No. 9). Emergency expiration extended 60 days (Executive Order N-40-20) plus an additional 60 days (Executive Order N-71-20). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-8-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

10. Renumbering of section 3476 to new section 3466 and renumbering of former section 3485 to section 3476, including amendment of subsections (d), (d)(4) and (i), refiled 10-4-2021 as an emergency, with additional amendments to subsection (d); operative 10-8-2021 pursuant to Government Code section 11346.1(d) (Register 2021, No. 41). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 1-6-2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11346.1(h) or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

11. Certificate of Compliance as to 10-4-2021 order, including further amendment of subsection (d)(4), transmitted to OAL 12-7-2021 and filed 1-5-2022; amendments operative 1-5-2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2022, No. 1).

12. Change without regulatory effect amending section heading and section filed 7-1-2024 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2024, No. 27).